No. 2, Gaily but not quick (Two Aquarelles)

Frederick Theodore Albert Delius (1862 – 1934) was born in Bradford in the north of England to a prosperous mercantile family, he resisted attempts to recruit him to commerce. He was sent to Florida in the United States in 1884 to manage an orange plantation. He soon neglected his managerial duties, and in 1886 returned to Europe.

Having been influenced by African-American music during his short stay in Florida, he began composing. After a brief period of formal musical study in Germany beginning in 1886, he embarked on a full-time career as a composer in Paris and then in nearby Grez-sur-Loing.

Delius's first successes came in Germany, but not in his native Britain, where his music did not make regular appearances in concert programs until 1907, after Thomas Beecham took it up.

After 1918, Delius began to suffer the effects of syphilis, contracted during his earlier years in Paris. He became paralysed and blind, but completed some late compositions between 1928 and 1932 with the aid of an amanuensis, Eric Fenby.

The lyricism in Delius's early compositions reflected the music he had heard in America and the influences of European composers such as Grieg and Wagner. As his skills matured, he developed a style uniquely his own, characterized by his individual orchestration and his uses of chromatic harmony.

"Two Aquarelles" are from 1917, were written as unaccompanied part-songs, and originally intended "To be sung of a summer night on the water." However, I believe they are usually heard in the version for string orchestra.

These fine transcriptions were done by Dom Gregory Murray OSB. Anthony Gregory Murray (1905 – 1992) was a British monk of Downside Abbey, as well as an organist and composer. His over-riding interest as a musician was to provide music that would enhance the Roman Catholic liturgy.

Please see the FIRST COMMENT for a youtube link to a tremendous film about Delius.

The score is attached below, as well as photos of Delius and Murray.